Great little piece of kit! Just bought this bad boy to upgrade from my ELE DAC, which served its purpose but was too bright with my DT770s, and overall just couldn't really do justice to either the Beyers or my HD558.
Compared to my other sources (Voodoo'd Samsung Infuse w/ Wolfson WM8740, ELE DAC), it is definitely a step up in terms of overall performance. The highs are not quite as sharp as the ELE, and the overall tone is clearly warmer with more bass. With my DT770, I get noticeably thumpier, slightly tighter bass, and more forward mids. With my HD558, the sound fills out nicely, with a darkish, authoritative sound that is great for a lot of my music: Tool/APC, Infected Mushroom. When I throw my E11 into the mix, the soundstage gets bigger and everything is pretty nicely spaced.
Overall I would not hesitate for a second to recommend this unit to anyone who wants to upgrade from their PC/laptop sound card. I think I would choose a more neutral amp than my E11 to go with it due to the fact that it is a bit warm on its own, but overall it is a very noticeable upgrade over my onboard sound, and I imagine it will be for most budget PC users as well.
Compared to my other sources (Voodoo'd Samsung Infuse w/ Wolfson WM8740, ELE DAC), it is definitely a step up in terms of overall performance. The highs are not quite as sharp as the ELE, and the overall tone is clearly warmer with more bass. With my DT770, I get noticeably thumpier, slightly tighter bass, and more forward mids. With my HD558, the sound fills out nicely, with a darkish, authoritative sound that is great for a lot of my music: Tool/APC, Infected Mushroom. When I throw my E11 into the mix, the soundstage gets bigger and everything is pretty nicely spaced.
Overall I would not hesitate for a second to recommend this unit to anyone who wants to upgrade from their PC/laptop sound card. I think I would choose a more neutral amp than my E11 to go with it due to the fact that it is a bit warm on its own, but overall it is a very noticeable upgrade over my onboard sound, and I imagine it will be for most budget PC users as well.